As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,976 granted to Goldfarb on Dec. 28, 1965 entitled "Bow Making Machinery" the bow making machine for the use in the home must be simple and inexpensive so that the average housewife can operate such machine merely on the basis of an instruction booklet and can afford to purchase one for such a specific use. Furthermore, as discussed in this patent, the machine must be simple in structure to minimize or eliminate the necessity of servicing or in other words, it requires no particular skills to repair the same. The type of machine contemplated in the referenced patent, which is incorporated herein by reference, is adapted to be operated intermittently rather than substantially automatically so that the operator maintains full control of the operation at all times.
The art is replete with patents that relate to bow making apparatus either for commercial application or for home use. This patent application is only concerned with the type of bow making machine that is intended for and capable of home use rather than the complex bow making machines that are identified for use in large scale manufacturing. For example, the co-inventor, Lopata, has invented several industrial types of bow making machines described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,396,880 and 3,415,429 granted on Aug. 13, 1968 and Dec. 10, 1968, respectively and both entitled "Apparatus and Method for Making Looped Ribbon Ornaments". A perusal of these patents make it obvious that these types of machines are complex, expensive and not capable of home use by an unsophisticated operator.
We have found that we can provide a bow making machine that is inexpensive, easy to operate and reliable. The cost of the machine in relative terms will be absorbed merely by making the number or bows provided by the roll of ribbon accompanying the portable bow making machine when purchased. It is contemplated by this invention that the user merely has to thread the machine, a simple operation and move the carriage reciprocally. At the completion of the desired bow configuration, the stapler, which includes a releasable self-gluing card, is swung in position and depressed to staple the card to the bow and automatically hold the bow in place as a finished product.
In accordance with this invention, the bow making machine consists essentially of three simple clutches that will be explained in detail hereinbelow that serve to make the operation automatic and allow for the simple movement by the operator.